Google has acquired Zenter, a small company that makes software for creating online slideshows. The Zenter fills the gap in search engine giant’s Web-based office software portfolio with an application similar to Microsoft’s popular PowerPoint.
“We’re pleased to announce that we’ve acquired the assets of Zenter, a company that provides software for creating online slide presentations,” according to Google’s engineering director Sam Schillace.
Just last week, the company had stepped up its challenge to Microsoft Office, adding a PowerPoint viewer to its online email client, Gmail. This means that Google mail users can now open business presentations inside their browsers – without opening Microsoft software on the desktop.
Zenter joins Tonic Systems, another maker of presentation software that Google acquired in April this year. Slide presentation offering—expected to launch this quarter completes Google’s productivity suite, Google’s answer to Microsoft Office, which already has GMail, calendar, Word processing and spreadsheet applications.
At its recent shareholder’s meeting, Google touted of its Web apps and launched Google Gears, a browser plug-in that allows people to use Web applications while offline.
Zenter first unveiled its service in mid-March. The service lets users import Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, as well as grab bits of content from all over the Web for making presentations that can be viewed and shared in the Web browser. Users can also create their own live broadcasts.
Zenter’s website points to a page with the Google logo and one line about the company’s acquisition. This includes a link to Google’s official blog and a note from engineering director Schillace about the purchase.
Zenter is backed by Y Combinator, whose startups include Reddit and Justin.TV.